Dear Pomona College Community,
Some 13 years ago, at a time of both hope and strain in the United States, the late civil rights attorney John Payton '73 gave a remarkable speech for the dedication of Pomona’s Draper Center for Community Partnerships.
Titled “Community as the Key to Democracy,” his October 2009 remarks were prescient to our own moment, as he pointed out that discourse over the nation’s challenges had become poisoned by hatred and called for a much more “inclusive sense of community.”
“Democracy, at its core, requires that all of the people be included in ‘we the people,’” said Payton, who served as a Pomona trustee and as president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “For that inclusive democracy to function, it is essential that we see each other as peers. This does not mean that everyone must be the same. But it does mean that beyond economic or educational circumstances there is the respect of a peer. There must be an understanding that our differences enrich our collective perspective. Democracy depends on this sense of the people being peers in a shared enterprise to function constructively.”
Today, we face even greater strains than the ones Payton was addressing more than a decade ago. Payton had successfully defended affirmative action in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Now that same court is hearing arguments in a pair of cases that may undo it despite so many years of legal precedent. That would be a significant setback to the work of inclusion, as I’ve recently noted in the Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe.
Few would disagree that the tone and content of public discourse have only declined since Payton decried the atmosphere of his time. One need only look to the recent appalling displays of antisemitism, a disturbing phenomenon we must openly and consistently stand against wherever it occurs. And as the U.S. midterm elections approach next week, we can expect the conversations on social media and elsewhere to turn even more heated and at times hateful.
In the face of these challenges, what can we do to continue to develop, in Payton’s words, an “inclusive sense of community”?
A first step is to vote. In recent years, Pomona students have initiated a powerful nonpartisan voter registration and turnout effort, and I urge everyone who is eligible to participate in our democracy in this way.
I would also point to the deeper, long-term work that is unfolding on our campus as we uphold higher education as a pathway to opportunity and stronger democracy.
In the years since the Draper Center’s dedication, hundreds of promising high school students from underrepresented groups have successfully participated in the center’s largest program, the Pomona College Academy for Youth Success (PAYS), which has helped put nearly every participant on track to attend four-year institutions.
Now we are working to further widen the pipeline to college, by admitting more community college students as transfers, among other steps. In recent times, the proportion of lower-income students has grown at Pomona, and we need to continue on that path that while also reaching out and enrolling more students from the middle class, as we strive for a diverse student population that fosters greater connection and truly represents the diversity of the United States.
On our campus, we have more work ahead to support open discourse, mutual respect and an environment in which everyone can flourish. Our Sustained Dialogue initiative is a key part of our work to foster productive conversations on difficult topics, and, in light of the troubling nationwide rise of antisemitism mentioned earlier, we will be working collaboratively to support and affirm a vital Jewish community life on our own campus.
We also will continue to move forward with our ongoing responses to the results of the extensive 2020 campus climate survey, taking on the issues of wellness, balance and how we can all flourish in our mission here.
On a final note, I want to address the ongoing negotiations for a new dining contract. Out of respect for the process, I have refrained from discussing the talks in detail while negotiations are underway. However, I do want to note that both parties, the college and the union, have now agreed to return to the bargaining table, and I see that as a positive development for all. Additional updates will be provided to the community as the process continues in the days and weeks ahead.
With best wishes,
Gabi